“Greenpeace India has attempted to disrepute the local industry by bringing out a dubious report on the Indian tea industry,” said the Crop Care Foundation of India.

New Delhi: TheCrop Care Federation of India (CCFI), which represents the agrochemical industry in India, has decided to file a defamation suit and seek Rs 50 crore in damages done by Greenpeace India for ‘consciously’ attempting to create an environment of scare mongering among the public through 'fabricated' and 'pseudo-scientific' report on the Indian tea industry.

The CCFI alleged that as part of its continued campaign against the Indian agricultural sector, Greenpeace India has once again attempted to disrepute the local industry by bringing out a dubious report on the Indian tea industry in August this year. “This self-sponsored report had made unsubstantiated claims that many Indian tea brands have high levels of pesticide residues,” CCFI said.

In a separate submission to the Government of India, the CCFI has brought into light many instances where Greenpeace India has exploited its perceived position in the society by taking a stand against the fast growing Indian agricultural sector in order to benefit foreign powers, who are the major donors of Greenpeace India.

Exasperated with Greenpeace India’s repeated attempts to discredit Indian agriculture industry, Rajju Shroff, Chairman of the CCFI said, “Greenpeace’s effort to keep essential data away from Indian experts is a clear indication that the report is not just unscientific and fabricated but also done with malicious intent to harm Indian economy at the behest of its foreign donors.”

It is worth noting here that from a chronically food shortage country, Indian in the last two decades has grown to become the second largest agricultural producer in the world. India is now the 10thlargestagri-exporter in the world.

According to CCFI, the questionable ‘pesticides residue analysis’ was done in an unknown and undisclosed laboratory in the Europe - apparently funded by Greenpeace International.

“The report sensationally titled “Trouble Brewing: Pesticide Residues in Tea Sample” did not even explain the protocol used for the tests nor did it carry the raw data and chromatograms for expert review by scientists in India,” CCFI said.